80-year-old loses $200,000 in romance scam tied to lion statue, Oregon officials say

A con artist convinced an 80-year-old Oregon man to pay $200,000 to help start an art gallery together in a romance scam, state officials say.

The money was supposed to be used to ship a 500-ton marble statue of a lion from China for the business, the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation says in a Tuesday press release.

Instead, the scammer — who remains unidentified — pocketed the money, investigators say. The con artist had stolen a Florida woman’s identity to befriend the Oregon man, a widower, on an online dating service in a so-called “catfish” scam.

Over several months, the con artist convinced the 80-year-old they were in a long-distance relationship and persuaded him to invest in a supposed $5 million effort to obtain the marble statue for a Florida art gallery, officials say.

Relying on elaborate faked documents, including contracts and bank statements, the widower made payments over 5 months to various individuals and overseas entities, investigators say.

None of the money has been recovered and the scam artist has not been found, the Oregon agency says.

“Romance scams typically target older individuals, gain their trust, then ask for money through social media and dating websites,” said Andrew Stolfi, division administrator, in the release. “Unfortunately, victims often wire funds overseas or to third-party transfer agents, making it difficult to track the money and identify the con artist.”

The agency advised people not to send money to anyone they have not met in person, not to send money to unknown people or intermediaries and to keep copies of all communications.